Only Santorum 'Drubbing' Can Save GOP

Republican presidential candidate, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, speaks at the Lincoln-Reagan Day Dinner at Bowling Green State University during a campaign stop yesterday. (Getty Images)

(Newser)
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The Republicans need to nominate Rick Santorum, and not just because he would ensure President Obama's re-election. No, an even more important reason is that Santorum represents the most extreme wing of today's GOP, and only his nomination and "drubbing" will force the party to return to a moderate center, writes Joe Nocera in the New York Times. Mitt Romney losing the election would only lead many in the party to conclude they need even more extremism. "If, however, Santorum is the nominee—and then loses in a landslide—the party will no longer be able to delude itself about where its ideological rigidity has taken it," Nocera writes.

Nocera compares today's Republicans to the Democratic Party during the McGovern-Mondale era, when the party was "taken over by its most extreme liberal faction" and lost touch with the middle class. It took the brutal losses in 1972 and 1984 for moderates to re-take control of the party, leading the way for Bill Clinton in 1992. "A party’s base cannot, by itself, swing a presidential election," writes Nocera. "An alcoholic doesn’t stop drinking until he hits bottom. The Republican Party won’t change until it hits bottom. Only Santorum offers that possibility." (Read more Joe Nocera stories.)

Why doesn't the GOP wake up. Every time there is a Mitt Romney article in here at least the articles I see there is barely 10 comments. I look at one about Rick Santorum for the first time and already there are 68 comments, but the GOP insists on cramming Mitt Romney down our throats.

DarkFrancis

Mar 4, 2012 3:21 PM CST

How is it that that photo of Santorum can pass muster when it looks like someone's dropped a napkin over the lens?

Frontier94600

Mar 4, 2012 1:03 PM CST

There's a difference between now and past GOP candidates. We have an expanding media from which to research the candidates. This year we have an opportunity to see the sharp contrast between what liberals want & the extreme right. This is a debate that we must have.